P.R. (5)

The essential element in an Additional Member System is that MPs are elected more or less as at present, but that Parliament is then "topped up" with additional MPs so that overall it is more representative of the support for the parties. The system which is being talked about at present is the "AV plus" system thought up by a Commission set up under Lord (Roy) Jenkins in 1997 to look into the question of PR. Under this system, MPs would be elected for individual constituencies using the ATV method (see the first post in this series). But then voters would also have a second vote for a bigger multi-member constituency, and these seats would be allotted taking into account how many MPs a party already had within that larger constituency, and favouring those parties which were under-represented. The actual methodology is rather too complicated to go into in detail here but Google "Jenkins Commission" if you are interested in the nuts and bolts. The Commission's report in 1998 was kicked into the long grass by the Government (it was felt that on the whole it would disadvantage Labour), and it remains to be seen whether there is any more enthusiasm for it today. And that finishes this look at how PR might work if ever we go for it.